The Korean-Japan relationship & Korean left wing

The Korean-Japan relationship, Korean left wing: How
it became the corner stone of the Korean left wing

Hello. This is Prof. AKIA and this article is a reworking of
a portion of my review for Korean Movie
“Assassination.” If you have read that review, you may not need to read this
one. But if you do, God bless and also join a raffle while you’re here. Considering
I am talking about a subject that tends to exist pervasively within Korean
culture and especially the entertainment industry, it may be an interesting
reference point for those foreigners who want to gain more understanding about
Korean dramas.

Introduction

Over the past years, there were several historical Korean
dramas set during the Japanese occupation period. Examples would be “Inspiring
Generation” (2014) or “Bridal Mask” (2012). This is also the case for Korean
movies as the recent mega hit “Assassination” (2015) is set during that period.

It is all a fun time
like fighting Nazis!

However, this are far more complicated than that. You can
say that same things about Nazis but let’s not get into that discussion. So,
what I’m I going to talk about? I want to talk about the Korean Left wing movement
that tends to permeate Korean culture and entertainment and its relationship
with the Japanese occupation.

Korean Left Wing?

The term of “left wing” is very broad encompassing many
disparate groups of people and ideas. This is what generally keeps them in
check as, once they go beyond the joint dislike of the establishment, there is
a lot of conflicting interests within this broad grouping.

I mean there is a lot of weirds ideas floating around all
mesh up together within the Korean left wing.

Many of those had they heyday decades ago globally but they
still are going strong here.

But that is a topic for another day and another outlet.

This is the same for the Korean left wing except for one
thing. Well mostly one thing. It is that they have a common rallying call that holds
the disparate factions together.

What is this rallying
call?

It is basically that everything Korea is now is contaminated
with former Japanese collaborators and current collaborators with America which
is basically the same thing as Japan. Thus, what exists now is false and has to
be torn down and destroyed and replaced.

Think of the theme of Captain America: the winter soldier
(2014) but without the comic book.

No capes also.

This idea is nothing unique to Koreans. It is the
underlining premise of the Matrix movies after all. There will always be the
disillusioned who also have an anarchist streak to them. The thing unique about
Korea is that this is basically the ultimate rallying cry for the wider Korean
left wing.

What is this?

Japanese occupation of
Korean is really complicated and did a job on the Korean psyche!

The Occupation and Us

First thing that you need to know is that the Japanese
occupation period of Korean history is far more complicated than how it tends
to be portrayed in Korean movies and dramas. While what you tend to see is as a
rather straight forward divide between good and evil like how the Nazis are
portrayed, the reality is that the Japanese were not exactly the same as Nazis.

Considering that the occupation officially lasted for 35
years, it is closer to imperialist overlord and colony situation. And that
whole area of discussion can get very icky fast. Even the whole American
Revolution thing, while Americans try to gloss it over, is far more complicated
than commonly known.

This ties in to Koreans’ rather sometimes comically
crippling insecurities. Korea in any form in the past was never much a BIG
country which had something to show to prosperity. We were basically a satellite
tributary kingdom of China. The only times we had some leeway to try to show
off was when China became weak over internal issues or external issues
unrelated to us. In short, we were a 3rd class country for most of
history. This applies to even in the “Good old times” when Joseon Kings and
Confucianism ruled. However, as an isolated country, we liked to think of us as
a big fish in a very small pond.Then, we were basically conquered by Japan
without even firing a shot. They just walked in and said that the king had to
sign over the country as if we had defaulted on a loan and that was that.

We were conquered that
like with a whimper.

If you look over Korean history especially the history of
Joseon dynasty, this should not come as much of a surprise. However, it was a
shock to Koreans at the time and is still remembered as a traumatic event since
self-reflection is not Koreans’ strong suit.

History Lesson

During the occupation, most of the Korean efforts towords
liberation was indirect. Not much were done directly at least inside the
peninsula. The Japanese ran a tight ship and Korean didn’t really have the
social infrastructure laid out to do more than focusing on education and
passive resistance. The situation abroad was not much better although there
were some military actions albeit small scale ones. And even those were plagued
with infighting.

The so called “government in exile” never had the resources
or was able to consolidate the disparate factions floating around to make much
of a global impact. In other words, Koreans at the time would killed to be
something like ISIS or even Al-Qaeda but reality was nothing as grand. This
also is a secret shame of Koreans that we tend to shove deep down in our
collective psyche. However, the big blow still on the way. Korea was liberated just
like that by the Allies. Koreans had basically no hand in it at all.

You see why Koreans would develop a complex or two?

Once Korea was liberated, the country for Koreans by Koreans
and only for Koreans that many dreamed of did not materialized. It couldn’t be
realized not only because of global politics but also because “Koreans,” as an
idealized concept in the heads of those who believed, never existed in real
life up to that point. We were just groups of people that shared some familial
traits ruled all along by a dynasty and nothing much more. Once you got
“Koreans” together, no one could agree on what was a Korean and what to do.
This startled many with their heads in the clouds about the idealized view of
the “Korean” people.

The Reaction

What can you do when
your idealized concepts are threatened? What should you do? There are several
ways one can react. But many go for the easy solution and blame it on others
and view anyone with different opinions as traitors. Hate is a great tool for
this and Koreans had a clearly defined target for their hate in addition to
some vague traitors within their ranks. This is why the view of anything and
everything after the occupation is “tainted” took hold which is ironic if you
think about it.

In a way, many were
now in a prison of their own making…

In any case, a “realistic” or “tainted” Korea was created
depending on who you asked. It was a capitalist country which many was opposed
to and then everything went up in smoke during the Korean war. At first, many
viewed it as a purging of the “tainted.” Some still do. Many were killed. In
the subsequent years, Korea flourished by becoming a country that makes movies and
dramas worth you reading through this editorial. However, the sense of “taint”
has lingered and gradually taken roots in the consciousness of Koreans and its
culture. More so with groups that get lumped in with the left wing as they do
not have many ties with the world of today.

Now

This is how the Korean-Japanese relationship ties in with the
Korean left wing movement. For the Korean left wing, the term anti-Japanese is
the flag being waved but the thing waving the flag is the world view that the
currently world is tainted and needs to be destroyed or at least purified. And
this works like a charm almost every time. It helps the Korean left wing to
maintain more cohesiveness relative to the Korean right wing thus rather
dominate public opinion in small and large ways. This is what we live with as
Koreans.

This is Prof. AKIA and thanks for reading this editorial! Also
join a raffle while you’re here.